Sound as a pound? Last week the world’s oldest surviving currency suffered its worst beating against the dollar in seven years. Sterling, the 1,200-year-old Anglo-Saxon currency, has shown itself to be highly vulnerable to developments in the UK’s relationship with Europe, at least in the short
Add and divide On Friday last week David Cameron secured a compromise deal with the European Union that enabled him to announce a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union, to be held on 23 June. This was the cue for a familiar sight in British
Minus signs? Last week, stock markets continued to flash red, pushing some of the world’s leading indices close to bear territory (defined as 20% below the previous peak). The S&P 500 fell 1.3% last week, while the FTSE 100 was down 2.4%, although a welcome bounce
Monkey business After the previous week’s gains, the sense of unease that has dominated since the New Year saw stock markets lose ground once again last week. The S&P 500, the world’s leading stock index, is down almost 5% since the year began. Last week, as
Ornament and safeguard? After several weeks of frenzied stock movements claiming newspaper headlines, it came as a relief last week to find attention turning instead to those most ponderous of market makers, the central banks. The S&P 500 and FTSEurofirst 300 both enjoyed steady if unspectacular rises
Done decoupling? Last week investors had to contend with news that major world bourses were in bear market territory – that is, a fall of at least 20% from peak to trough; such headlines generate understandable unease. Yet the stories of markets and economies in 2016
Chinese whispers As equity markets around the world continue their New Year slide, those already invested or thinking of investing might understandably be concerned about what the near-term future holds. Faced with such uncertainty, it is worth remembering some fundamentals, both in terms of the wider
Toil and trouble “But dawning day new comfort hath inspired,” said Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. The same could not be said at the dawn of the 400th year since the Bard’s death. Instead, markets offered a sobering reminder that the global recovery is beset by challenges. In an echo
One year, many tracks It was every bit the rollercoaster year, not just because volatility has been exceptionally high, but because the major markets around the world tugged in very different directions. The world’s most important stock index, the S&P 500, ended the year up just over
Easing and squeezing The beginning of the new millennium’s first financial crisis is usually dated to the bursting of the housing bubble in the US in 2007; identifying the close of a crisis is a trickier business. Endings are less abrupt and there are numerous indicators
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